| The Markets Stocks across Europe closed lower on Tuesday as investors used the opportunity to take profits on the back of strong gains over the past week. Following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti said that he sees "light at the end of the tunnel" for the Eurozone. Both leaders left the meeting echoing previous comments from European policy markets that the euro would be given as much support as it needed. Over in Asia, the Indian central bank cuts its growth forecast for the country from 7.5% to 6.5%, but left interest rates unchanged at 8%. Despite growing pressure to take action to boost the slowing economy, the Reserve Bank of India explained inflation remained too high to boost money supply via a reduction in the base rate. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 10.48 points at 13,062.53 and the Nasdaq was up by 11.22 points at 2,653.34.
In London the FTSE 100 fell by 58.35 points to 5,635.28; the FTSE 250 finished 102.22 points behind at 11,136.69; the FTSE All-Share lost 23.39 points to 2,933.14; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 0.99 points to 668.43. 
Broker Notes Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for NetDimensions (NETD) with a 76p target price. The broker noted that the software developer's sector has seen considerable acquisition activity recently and Panmure believes that the group is an attractive takeover prospect, trading on a prospective EV/EBITDA multiple of 5.2 times for the 2013 financial year. The broker said that the firm is growing well in the Asia Pacific region and added that the company's cash position of 7.7 million dollars (4.9 million pounds), as at 30th June, is ahead of its full year forecast of 7.1 million dollars (4.5 million pounds). Shares in NetDimensions were unchanged at 29.75p. N+1 Brewin upgraded its stance on Dialight (DIA) from "hold" to "buy" with an increased target price of 1,321p, from 988p. The broker now expects the LED manufacturer's Obstruction division to achieve 40% growth, up from 30% previously, while maintaining its 75% growth forecast for industrial lighting. The group has invested heavily in sales, with the broker noting a significant increase in staff, from 17 to 39, including a tripling of the number working in North America. The shares inched down by 2p to 1,029p. 
Canaccord Genuity maintained its "buy" rating for Cineworld (CINE) with a target price of 280p. The broker believes that ticket sales in July were greater than in 2011 across the UK, despite the bad weather and a tough comparative that included "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2)". Canaccord noted an encouraging start to the second half, with the latest Batman and Spiderman films and added that there was a strong lineup fro the rest of the year, including the final Twilight film and the next Bond film "Skyfall". The broker also believes that the group will complete the digital roll-out in the second half. The shares slipped by 0.5p to 225.5p. Shore Capital retained its "buy" recommendation for Greggs (GRG), ahead of interim results on 7th August. The British high street has suffered recently from the very wet weather and the broker raised concerns that the baker has also been impacted. However, the broker maintained its its 4.3% growth forecast for the first half, expecting sales to be driven by new store openings. The company plans to open 90 new outlets in the current financial year, leading the broker to expect full year growth of 6.5%. Shares in Greggs edged down by 1.5p to 515p. Blue-Chips The stream of bad news from BP (BP.) continued as its latest results fell short of market expectations. The oil major reported a 1.4 billion dollar (0.9 billion pounds) loss for its second quarter, ended 30th June, down from a 5.7 billion dollar (3.6 billion pounds) profit in 2011's comparable period. The firm saw production in the quarter fall by 7.4% to 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and said it expects this to fall even lower in the third quarter. The group also suffered a number of charges, including a 2.4 billion dollar (1.5 billion pound) impairment on its US shale gas assets and the suspension of its Liberty project in Alaska. The shares leaked 19.4p to 425.05p. 
Weir Group (WEIR) reported a 27% rise in first half adjusted pre-tax profits to 226 million pounds, on revenues of 1.3 billion pounds, up 29% year-on-year. Total orders for the engineering company rose 8% to 1.3 billion pounds, but investors were concerned over a 7% decline in orders for the firm's Oil & Gas division. The group noted that companies in North America were switching from gas to liquids extraction and added that equipment wear life increased due to lower pressure basins. The business revised its full year pre-tax profit target for the division to between 440 and 460 million pounds, with the lower end reflecting no improvement on the second quarter performance. Weir shares tumbled by 49p to 1,655p. Mexico focused precious metals miner Fresnillo (FRES) suffered from a 13.3% fall in its realised sliver price to 30.97 dollars (19.7 pounds) per ounce, resulting in pre-tax profits for the six months ended 30th June falling 22.3% on 2011's comparable period, to 603.3 million dollars (384.0 million pounds). However, the group did achieve record gold production of 248,795 ounces, up 20.5% as it started production at the Noche Buena mine and completed the ramp up at Saucito. The shares crept up by 3p to 1,456p. Mid-Caps Shares in Elementis (ELM) jumped by 10.5p to 210.5p after it announced the introduction of a special dividend programme to return up to 50% of its year-end net cash to shareholders. The specialty chemicals group enjoyed a strong first half, with pre-tax profits rising 12% to 79 million dollars (50.3 million pounds), benefiting from reduced operating costs. The high level of cash generation resulted in Elementis finishing the period with a net cash position of 29.9 million dollars (19.0 million pounds) compared to a net debt position of 54.4 million dollars (34.6 million pounds) at the same time in 2011. 
Devro (DVO) reported adjusted pre-tax profits of 20.2 million pounds for the six months ended 30th June, up 5.7% on 2011's comparable performance, with revenues rising 7.7% to 115.4 million pounds. The sausage casing manufacturer attributed the results to strong performances in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America, while sales in the UK and Ireland declined. The shares declined by 9.6p to 291p. Precious gem miner Petra Diamonds (PDL) saw production rise by 98% over the year ended 30th June, to 2.2 million carats, driven by the acquisition of the Finsch mine in September 2011 and beating its original target of 2 million carats. However, revenues were impacted by weaker diamond prices, resulting in growth of just 44% to 316.9 million dollars (201.7 million pounds). Separately, the group announce plans to sell its fissure mine operations in South Africa in order to focus on its core assets, such as the Williamson project. Shares in Petra descended 7p to 120p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Lighthouse Group (LGT) shareholders combined forces at a general meeting on Tuesday, voting against the board's proposal to cancel the financial advisor's admission to trading on AIM. 53.17% of votes were registered against the cancellation, with chairman David Hickey commenting "looking forward the group will continue to comply with the AIM rules, and the board will continue to shareholders' preferences." Lighthouse shares surged 0.875p to 4.25p. Metalrax Group (MRX) was forced to concede that Morrisons supermarket will not be renewing its consumer durables supply agreement with the specialist engineering and durables products company, sending its shares 0.875p lower to 5.625p. The contract relates to the ongoing supply by George Wilkinson of bakeware to Morrisons, the contract representing approximately 3% of Metalrax's annual revenue. West Africa focused Stellar Diamonds (STEL) has renewed its exploration licence over the Tongo kimberlite dyke project via the Ministry of Minerals Resources of Sierra Leone. The Tongo prospect, host to four diamondiferous kimberlite dykes, has a current inferred resource of 660,000 carats, and with the licence for the site renewed, Stellar can focus on increasing this estimate. The firm added that discussions continued with the Ministry of Mines concerning the renewal of the Kono licence. Stellar shares jumped 0.25p to 3.125p. 
Healthcare enterprise business Circle Holdings (CIRC) has completed the construction of a hospital in Reading on time and on budget, the 60 million pound building set to open on Wednesday. Commencement of construction work for Circle's second new-build hospital started in January 2011, the centre boasting 5 state of the art digital operating theatres, 50 patient beds and 130 car park spaces. Circle shares rose 3.5p to 80.5p. Metals Exploration (MTL) announced it has obtained commitments to raise approximately 25 million dollars via the issue of shares at 13p, a premium of 52% to the pre-announcement share price. The company has also agreed with Solomon Capital for the provision of loan facilities totalling 105 million dollars, which will be used together with the equity placing proceeds to complete the construction of the mine at its Runruno project in the Philippines. Metals Exploration shares closed 1.125p ahead at 9.625p. News that the board of IndigoVision (IND) expects revenue for the year to July to be not less than 30 million pounds sent shares in the video security surveillance business 22.5p higher to 345p. This, as well as an improvement in margins compared with the previous year means the firm expects operating profits to come in at a minimum of 2.6 million pounds, double that reported in 2011. The board commented that a recovery in performance "happened somewhat faster than we expected a few months ago, and is directly attributable to the energy and effort being put in by the management team". | 
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